Dollar Bill?

“That’s what’s great about the Presidential $1 Coin Program,” said United States Mint Director Ed Moy in a press release. “This series of circulating coins provides the perfect opportunity for Americans to learn more about our Presidents and the critical role they played in some of our Nation’s historic milestones.”

A survey commissioned by the United States Mint says that less than a third (30%) of Americans knew that Thomas Jefferson was the Nation’s third President, though more than half (57%) were able to recognize his role as a primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Just 35% knew that Jefferson was featured on the nickel, according to the survey conducted by the Gallup Organization.

The Presidential $1 Coin Survey also found that only:

22% of Americans know that there have been 43 U.S. Presidents to date.

21% of Americans know that the faces of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt are carved on Mount Rushmore.

68% knew that George Washington led the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

The United States Mint inaugurated the Presidential $1 Coin series with the George Washington $1 Coin in February 2007. The John Adams $1 Coin followed in May. The public may obtain Thomas Jefferson $1 Coins at most banks and financial institutions throughout the country beginning today. Thomas Jefferson $1 Coins in collector bags and rolls will be available for purchase on the United States Mint’s website, http://www.usmint.gov, at 12:00 noon (ET) on August 16.

Congress authorized and President Bush signed the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005. The Act requires the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue $1 coins honoring the United States Presidents in the order in which they served, with four new designs annually. Each President will be honored with a single Presidential $1 Coin, regardless of the number of consecutive terms he served, except for Grover Cleveland, the only U.S. President to serve non-consecutive terms. He will be honored on two coins. No living, former or current President can be honored on a Presidential $1 Coin.